The words, “Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days,” have haunted me since my brain was only half-formed. At 12, I filled pages with Dean Winchester’s one-liners during class, which somehow made me more focused. Maybe, but maybe not (ask my report cards).
The Winchester brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles), raised a generation on Thursday nights — and then another on Netflix. Every year, I paced with fellow fans for renewal news, until season 4, when Castiel (Misha Collins) pulled Dean from perdition and new seasons became all but guaranteed.
Chuck may say nothing ever ends, and in a way, he’s right. "Supernatural" eventually had to give fans its swan song, 15 years later. But like energy in science, fandom doesn’t vanish; it just transforms. Two decades after its premiere, Supernatural" has earned its place as one of TV’s most important genre shows. I learned everything I know from Dean Winchester.
The longest-running genre show of all time
If you’d told fans in 2005 that "Supernatural" would last 15 seasons, we would have laughed. Even the creators dubbed it "the little show that could." And it really could. The series didn’t endure because of monster-of-the-week plots; it endured because of two dysfunctional brothers and the found family they’d sacrifice everything for.
Sure, they “kill some evil sons of b----es and raise a little hell” — my excuse for skipping 10th-grade math homework — but it wasn’t their kills that kept us glued. It was their deaths for each other. The show made audiences care about sacrifice, loyalty, and love, not just gory action or plot twists.
A little cast that could
Procedurals run for decades, but genre shows rarely hit 15 years. "Smallville" set the stage, but "Supernatural" carried on. Fans have the cast to thank. Ackles and Padalecki’s chemistry made on-screen brotherhood believable; Collins fit right in. They became true brothers, cementing a bond we can watch over and over.
I interviewed Ackles for "The Winchesters back" in 2023. He said, “Dean will always be a part of me.” True for him, but Dean, Sam, Castiel and Baby the Impala remain a part of all of us. The cast loves the show because they’re fans, too. Any recast or shake-up might have derailed the series — possibly shaving off a season (or 14).
A soundtrack that sings
I’ll never forget my friend’s incredulous look when I pointed to her dad’s Creedence CDs. Raised on Grateful Dead, James Taylor, Britney, musical theater, and Green Day, I was also a Kansas and Led Zeppelin convert — thanks to "Supernatural."
The Americana road-trip heartbeat of the series isn’t just background; it’s another character. The soundtrack shaped tone, mood, and the emotional impact of nearly every scene, giving the series its unique flavor.
A yearning the show finally names
Dean wasn’t allowed to be queer in 2005, or even really in 2020. Stage directions like "eye f---ing" were in scripts given to Ackles and Collins, so Destiel wasn’t delusional; the fandom read the signs. Dean channels his gentle heart into masculine bravado. By season 5, he’s too busy smoldering at his angel to hook up at bars. Fans named the love he couldn’t, and that sustained the show’s fandom.
Dean became a queer-coded role model, and the long game paid off: Castiel makes a "homosexual declaration of love," and while Dean doesn’t reciprocate, it’s enough to keep Destiel alive five years later. It softens the sting of 11 years of intentional queerbaiting, at least.
Nothing ever really ends … or does it?
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the "Supernatural" finale.
When the finale aired, I was devastated by Dean's death. But Dean had always talked about "going out swinging," so I defended it. A 15-season rewatch in two months changed my mind. Dean spends the show unlearning that desire while craving family and retirement. He sacrifices himself again and again. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Dean Frigging Winchester.
The season 5 finale was creator Eric Kripke’s original vision: Sam dies, Dean retires happily. Later resurrections came because the show continued.
"Supernatural" was never meant to be perfect. But it made people feel all the feels, gave fans a family and endured, even without a final wrap party or a Kansas encore at the Roadhouse. Fifteen seasons, two brothers, and an angel riding shotgun in Baby saved countless people on- and off-screen. Binge or weekly viewing, it doesn't matter — the highs and lows hit just the same.
Watch all 15 seasons of "Supernatural" on Netflix
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